Naoki Urasawa Gets Eisner Award - About Damn Time

VIZ MEDIA’S NAOKI URASAWA’S 20th CENTURY BOYS WINS A 2011 EISNER AWARD

Manga Masterpiece Recognized With The Comic Book Industry’s Most Prestigious Award

San Francisco, CA, July 28, 2011 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of anime and manga in North America, is proud to announce that NAOKI URASAWA’S 20th CENTURY BOYS was recognized with an Eisner Award in the Best U.S. Edition of International Material - Asia category during award ceremonies held at the recent Comic-Con International event in San Diego, CA. NAOKI URASAWA’S 20th CENTURY BOYS is published in North America by VIZ Media’s Signature imprint. Volume 17 of the series will be released in August.

20th CENTURY BOYS is the story of a group of boys who try to save the world. Humanity, having faced extinction at the end of the 20th century, would not have entered the new millennium if it weren't for them. In 1969, during their youth, they created a symbol. In 1997, as the coming disaster slowly starts to unfold, that symbol returns.

For Kenji, a simple convenience store manager who once dreamed of becoming a rock 'n' roll musician, a host of memories from his past come rushing back when one of his childhood friends mysteriously commits suicide. Could this new death be related to the rise of a bizarre new cult that's been implicated in several other murders and disappearances? Determined to dig deeper, Kenji reunites with some of his old buddies in the hope of learning the truth behind it all.

“We’re elated to have NAOKI URASAWA’S 20th CENTURY BOYS recognized by the comic book industry such a prestigious award,” says Andy Nakatani, Editorial Director at VIZ Media and editor for the title. “Urasawa‘s tense and dramatic storylines have firmly established him among the very top echelon of manga creators. With this, and other acclaimed series such as NAOKI URASAWA’S MONSTER and PLUTO: URASAWA ´ TEZUKA, Naoki Urasawa continues to push the boundaries of the manga genre, and we look forward to this award bringing his work to the attention of many new fans across North America.”

The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards are considered the "Oscars" of the comic book industry [Utter foolishness - Leroy] and are named for renowned cartoonist Will Eisner (creator of The Spirit and several award-winning graphic novels). The awards are handed out each year in a gala ceremony at Comic-Con International in San Diego, the largest and oldest comic book convention in the United States.

Naoki Urasawa's career as a manga artist spans more than twenty years and has firmly established him as one of the true manga masters of Japan. Born in Tokyo in 1960, Urasawa debuted with BETA! in 1983 and hasn't stopped his impressive output since. Well-versed in a variety of genres, Urasawa's oeuvre encompasses a multitude of different subjects, such as a romantic comedy (YAWARA! A FASHIONABLE JUDO GIRL), a suspenseful human drama about a former mercenary (PINEAPPLE ARMY; story by Kazuya Kudo), a captivating psychological suspense story (NAOKI URASAWA’S MONSTER), a sci-fi adventure manga (NAOKI URASAWA’S 20TH CENTURY BOYS), and a modern reinterpretation of the work of the God of Manga, Osamu Tezuka (PLUTO: URASAWA X TEZUKA; co-authored with Takashi Nagasaki, supervised by Macoto Tezka, and with the cooperation of Tezuka Productions). Many of his books have spawned popular animated and live-action TV programs and films, and 2008 saw the theatrical release of the first of three live-action Japanese films based on NAOKI URASAWA’S 20TH CENTURY BOYS.

No stranger to accolades and awards, Urasawa is a three-time recipient of the prestigious Shogakukan Manga Award, a two-time recipient of the Osamu Tezuka Cultural Prize, and has received the Kodansha Manga Award. Urasawa has also become involved in the world of academia, and in 2008 accepted a guest teaching post at Nagoya Zokei University, where he teaches courses in, of course, manga.

For more information on NAOKI URASAWA’S 20th CENTURY BOYS and other VIZ Media manga titles, please visit www.viz.com/manga.

Natsume's Friends

I read Natsume's Book of Friends, Vol. 8

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin (which has FREE smart phone apps).

Leroy Douresseaux on FRAGMENTA 3: On the Record

FRAGMENTA 3: ON THE RECORD
CANDLE LIGHT PRESS

WRITER: John Ira Thomas
ARTISTS: Carter Allen, Jeremy Smith
56pp, Color, $7.00

I am a big fan of the comics, graphic novels, and various publications put out by Candle Light Press. Go read Zoo Force/Not Zoo Force.

In recent years, Candle Light Press and its leading man of letters, John Ira Thomas, have published small mooks (magazine/book) collecting odds and ends concerning CLP’s comics, graphic novels, aborted projects, etc. Those include Fragmenta: The Art of the Writer and Fragmenta 2: Cross Nurses & Agile Clothes.

Fragmenta 2, from Thomas and artist Will Beard, focused on stories that never made it all the way to finished form as a comic book or graphic novel. Thomas also shared his aborted attempts to create horror comics that capture the feel of cheap movies, especially horror/exploitation movies. It’s a must have.

Now, comes Fragmenta 3: On the Record. It’s a bit different. Fragmenta 3 is part script book, part history, and part transcripts based on recordings (record LPs). The material inside is based on real creators, real events, and fictional characters from actual comic books and graphic novels. The content of Fragmenta 3, however, is not necessarily based on actual published works.

Readers who are familiar with CLP’s comics and graphic novels will love Fragmenta 3. The opening two pages are a history of and manifesto about comic book creators dealing with Hollywood. It’s fun to read, and makes a lot of good points about staying true to the characters and what that means for creators, fans, and media rights holders. For me, reading the scripts was like experiencing old time radio programs, but since I am a fan of old time radio, perhaps, I’m just projecting my favorite things onto Fragmenta 3.

Like most anything Candle Light Press publishes, Fragmenta 3: On the Record is smart, funny, engaging, and simply a good read.

A-

Visit the CLP store: http://candlelightpress.com/shopper/
http://www.candlelightpress.com/

Leroy Douresseaux on STAR WARS: JEDI – THE DARK SIDE #3

STAR WARS: JEDI – THE DARK SIDE #3
DARK HORSE BOOKS

["Star Wars Central" review page is here.]

SCRIPT: Scott Allie
ARTIST: Mahmud Asrar
COLORS: Paul Mounts
LETTERS: Michael Heisler
COVER: Stéphane Roux
32pp, Color, $2.99

Star Wars: Jedi – The Dark Side is a recently launched Star Wars comic book series from Dark Horse Comics. It is set during “The Rise of the Empire” era, which is essentially the time period of the Star Wars prequel trilogy. This particular story takes place two decades before Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.

In Star Wars: Jedi – The Dark Side, the Jedi Council sends Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, his headstrong Padawan Xanatos, the beautiful Jedi Master Tahl, and the Padawan Orykan Tamarik (whose master is deceased) to the planet Telos IV. Their assignment is to quell the unrest caused by the mysterious death and possible assassination of High Priestess Liora.

As Star Wars: Jedi – The Dark Side #3 opens, Qui-Gon attempts to bring peace between Xanatos and his father, Lord Crion, the ruler of Telos IV. Father and son have a difficult relationship, made even more difficult by Crion’s pride and Xanatos’ stubborn ways. Xanatos’ sister, Nason, also tries to bring her brother and father together, but she may be endangering herself. Meanwhile, the dissidents on Telos IV grow bolder, and the mysterious Jedi figure that may be behind the planet’s troubles is revealed to Qui-Gon,

Writer Scott Allie has turned Star Wars into a high-quality court drama and conspiracy thriller. This is more like a summer potboiler prose novel than a comic book. Artist Mahmud Asrar does his best work in depicting the Jedi in action. His art captures the jumping, flipping, cart-wheeling Jedi of The Phantom Menace in still pictures that don’t lose the energy of the moving image originals. I didn’t think that I’d like this, but I’m actually looking forward to more, especially because Allie presents a richly characterized version of Qui-Gon.

A-

Matt Taibbi on the Great Corporate Tax Holiday/Scam

The great Matt Taibbi. Go. Read.

Imagine the uproar if Barack Obama, in the middle of this historic revenue crunch and "We're so broke the world is going to end tomorrow!" debt-ceiling hystgeria, decided to declare a second “one-time tax holiday” for, say, unwed single mothers, or recipients of public assistance? Middle America would be running through the streets, firing shotguns out its truck window, waving chainsaws in mall lobbies, etc.

Complete List of 2011 Eisner Award Winners

2011 Eisner Award Winners List

Best Continuing Series
Chew, by John Layman and Rob Guillory (Image)

Best Short Story
"Post Mortem," by Greg Rucka and Michael Lark, in I Am an Avenger #2 (Marvel)

Best Single Issue (or One-Shot)
Hellboy: Double Feature of Evil, by Mike Mignola and Richard Corben (Dark Horse)

Best Limited Series
Daytripper, by Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá (Vertigo/DC)

Best New Series
American Vampire, by Scott Snyder, Stephen King, and Rafael Albuquerque (Vertigo/DC)

Best Publication for Kids
Tiny Titans, by Art Baltazar and Franco (DC)

Best Publication for Teens
Smile, by Raina Telgemeier (Scholastic Graphix)

Best Humor Publication
I Thought You Would Be Funnier, by Shannon Wheeler (BOOM!)

Best Anthology
Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard, edited by Paul Morrissey and David Petersen (Archaia)

Best Digital Comic
Abominable Charles Christopher, by Karl Kerschl, www.abominable.cc

Best Reality-Based Work
It Was the War of the Trenches, by Jacques Tardi (Fantagraphics)

Best Graphic Album—New
Return of the Dapper Men, by Jim McCann and Janet Lee (Archaia)
Wilson, by Daniel Clowes (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Graphic Album—Reprint
Wednesday Comics, edited by Mark Chiarello (DC)

Best Adaptation from Another Work
The Marvelous Land of Oz, by L. Frank Baum, adapted by Eric Shanower and Skottie Young (Marvel)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips
Archie: The Complete Daily Newspaper Strips, 1946–1948, by Bob Montana, edited by Greg Goldstein (IDW)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books
Dave Stevens' The Rocketeer Artist's Edition, edited by Scott Dunbier (IDW)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material
It Was the War of the Trenches, by Jacques Tardi (Fantagraphics)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia
Naoki Urasawa's 20th Century Boys, by Naoki Urasawa (VIZ Media)

Best Writer
Joe Hill, Lock & Key (IDW)

Best Writer/Artist
Darwyn Cooke, Richard Stark's Parker: The Outfit (IDW)

Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team
Skottie Young, The Marvelous Land of Oz (Marvel)

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)
Juanjo Guarnido, Blacksad (Dark Horse)

Best Cover Artist
Mike Mignola, Hellboy, Baltimore: The Plague Ships (Dark Horse)

Best Coloring
Dave Stewart, Hellboy, BPRD, Baltimore, Let Me In (Dark Horse); Detective Comics (DC); Neil Young's Greendale, Daytripper, Joe the Barbarian (Vertigo/DC)

Best Lettering
Todd Klein, Fables, The Unwritten, Joe the Barbarian, iZombie (Vertigo/DC); Tom Strong and the Robots of Doom (WildStorm/DC); SHIELD (Marvel); Driver for the Dead (Radical)

Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism
ComicBookResources, produced by Jonah Weiland (www.comicbookresources.com)

Best Comics-Related Book
75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking, by Paul Levitz (TASCHEN)

Best Publication Design
Dave Stevens' The Rocketeer Artist's Edition, designed by Randall Dahlk (IDW)

HALL OF FAME
Judges' Choices: Ernie Bushmiller, Jack Jackson, Martin Nodell, Lynd Ward
Elected: Mort Drucker, Harvey Pekar, Roy Thomas, Marv Wolfman

Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award:
Nate Simpson

Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award:
Patrick McDonnell

Bill Finger Excellence in Comic Book Writing Award:
Del Connell, Bob Haney

Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award:
Comics & Vegetables, Tel Aviv, Israel - Yuval Sharon, Danny Amitai

CHEW Wins "Best Series" Eisner Award

Wilson and Dapper Men Tie for Best Graphic Album at 2011 Eisner Awards

IDW Garners Five Trophies

SAN DIEGO – The 2011 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, presented by Comic-Con International (Comic-Con®), ended on an unusual note Friday night with the Best Graphic Album-New category going to two winners: Jim McCann and Janet Lee's Return of the Dapper Men (published by Archaia) and Dan Clowes's Wilson (published by Drawn & Quarterly). The awards, considered the "Oscars®" of comics [Considered by whom? Morons? - Leroy], were presented in a gala ceremony at the Indigo Ballroom of the Hilton Bayfront. The "Eisners," which honor comics' best and brightest, were held as part of Comic-Con, the world's largest comic book and popular arts event in the Western Hemisphere.

The Graphic Album category is somewhat comparable to "Best Picture" in the comics industry [What a ridiculous thing to claim - Leroy]. Other notable winners included horror novelist Joe Hill for Best Writer (Locke & Key, IDW), Chew (Image) by John Layman and Rob Guillory for Best Continuing Series, Daytripper (Vertigo/DC) by Brazilian brothers Gabriel Bá and Fábio Moon for Best Limited Series, and American Vampire (Vertigo/DC) by Scott Snyder, Stephen King, and Rafael Albuquerque for Best New Series.

Creators who received multiple awards were Hellboy creator Mike Mignola (Best Cover Artist, Best Single Issue for Hellboy: Double Feature of Evil, published by Dark Horse), famed French cartoonist Jacques Tardi (Best Reality-Based Work and Best U.S. Edition of International Material for It Was the War of the Trenches, published by Fantagraphics), and artist Skottie Young (Best Adaption from Another Work and Best Penciller/Inker for The Marvelous Land of Oz, published by Marvel).

The publisher taking away the most awards was IDW, with five total, including two for Dave Stevens' The Rocketeer Artist's Edition, in addition to Joe Hill's Best Writer nod and Darwyn Cooke's win for Best Writer/Artist. DC Comics had four winners plus two shared, along with bragging rights for the Best Comics-Related Book: 75 Years of DC Comics, by Paul Levitz. Dark Horse had three winners (including the two for Mignola) plus two shared. Marvel Comics received three trophies, while Archaia and Fantagraphics receive two. Other publishers taking home trophies included BOOM!, Drawn & Quarterly, Image, Scholastic, and VIZ.

The evening was presided over by Bill Morrison, creative director for Matt Groening's Bongo Comics. The evening was divided into three segments, each with special hosts. It kicked off with writer/actors Ben Garant and Tom Lennon (Reno 911, Night at the Museum), who acted out their script for a multimillion-dollar Eisner Awards opening number. The second segment was hosted by Comic-Con special guests Anina Bennett and Paul Guinan, creators of the steampunk bestseller Boilerplate: History's Mechanical Marvel. The host for the final segment was actor/voice actor Phil LaMarr (Pee Wee's Playhouse, Futurama, Samurai Jack).

Presenters during the evening included actor/author Lance Henriksen (Millennium, Aliens); bestselling author Glen David Gold (Carter Beats the Devil); British talk show host and comics author Jonathan Ross; Eisner nominees Gerry Alanguilan, Ian Boothby, Joe Hill, Gabriel Rodriguez, Greg Rucka, and Jill Thompson; and Comic-Con special guests Dave Gibbons, Joëlle Jones, Patrick McDonnell, and Walter and Louise Simonson.

Sergio Aragonés once again presented the Hall of Fame Awards. The eight inductees and their acceptors were: Nancy creator Ernie Bushmiller (accepted by Denis Kitchen), MAD cartoonist Mort Drucker (accepted by MAD art director Sam Viviano), underground comix pioneer Jack Jackson (accepted by his son, Sam) Green Lantern co-creator Martin Nodell (accepted by his son, Spencer), autobiographical comics writer Harvey Pekar (accepted by his wife, Joyce Brabner), comics writer/editor Roy Thomas, pioneer graphic novelist Lynd Ward (accepted by his daughter, Robin Ward Savage), and comics writer/artist Marv Wolfman.

Among the other awards given out over the evening were the Comic-Con's Clampett and Manning awards. The Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award, presented by Bob's daughter Ruth, went to Mutts cartoonist Patrick McDonnell, for his efforts for animal welfare. The Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award went to Nate Simpson (writer/artist of Nonplayer, published by Image Comics) and was presented by past Manning recipient Chris Bailey.

The seventh annual Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing was presented by Mark Evanier to 93-year-old Del Connell (prolific Dell Comics/Disney writer, Space Family Robinson), accepted by his son, Brady, and to the late Bob Haney (Metamorpho, Brave & the Bold, Doom Patrol), whose award was accepted by Ramona Fradon. Maggie Thompson (editor of Comics Buyers Guide) introduced the special In Memoriam video salute.

The Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award, given to a store that has done an outstanding job of supporting the comics art medium both in the community and within the industry at large, went to Comics & Vegetables of Tel Aviv, Israel. Baby Tattoo, publishers of books for kids and adults, sponsored the retailer award.

The title sponsor for this year's Eisner Awards was Advanced Micro Devices which gave away a free computer to a lucky audience member. The principal sponsors were Gentle Giant Studios and Lebonfon Printing. Supporting sponsors were Alternate Reality Comics of Las Vegas; Atlantis Fantasyworld of Santa Cruz, CA; Diamond Comic Distributors; Flying Colors and Other Cool Stuff of Concord, CA; mycomicshop.com; Strange Adventures of Halifax, Nova Scotia; Warp 1 of Edmonton, Alberta; and Mel Thompson and Associates.

The Eisner Awards are part of, and underwritten by, Comic-Con International: San Diego, a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to creating awareness of and appreciation for comics and related popular art forms, primarily through the presentation of conventions and events that celebrate the historic and ongoing contributions of comics to art and culture.